Portal - Seepia

Artist: Portal

Title: Seepia

Label: Crush Until Madness

Format: Pic Disc

Pressing History: 1000

Review: Seepia is the first full length album from Australia's otherworldly Portal. The sound is a little more pimitive than their latest effort, Outre, which has a much better production to capture their blackened cacophony. That's my only complaint, and I really shouldn't complain since this band is on another plane in terms of death metal. No band on the planet can touch the unsettling atmosphere that they create, possibly with the exception of Immolation. Portal is lightyears smarter than Immolation in terms of aesthetics though, as you'll see from the artwork and packaging. Let's just say that if the film Begotten had a death metal soundtrack, this would be it. Seepia may be a little to avante-garde for the average Deicide fan, but if you are into the experimental side of extreme music, pick this album up right now! Overall, 2 stars for the packaging and 2 more for the music: 4 of 4 stars.

http://www.myspace.com/portalxiii

http://crushuntilmadnessdistro.com/

Black September/Thou - Thrive and Decay

Artists: Black September and Thou

Title: Thrive and Decay

Label: Various Labels

Format: Split 7"

Pressing History: 500 Black

Review: On side A, Black September offer Enter the Rising. They play a sort of black and roll that is very noisy. Not really my cup of tea, but they have potential. On side B, Thou hit hard with Smoke Pigs. Think of a Black Sabbath worship, not unlike Warhorse or Iron Monkey at their grooviest. This track is killer, and I'm looking forward to hearing more from them. The artwork is dark, brooding and well done. We're treated to black and grey colors with images of withering trees and someone being choked to death. This piece is rather limited too at only 500 pieces. Overall, one star for the music and two for the package: 3 of 4 stars.

http://noladiy.org/thou/iy.org/thou/

http://www.myspace.com/thebandblackseptember